Last year I spit out a filthy little story called “A Trench is No Place for God,” reappropriated, for a good cause, from one of my novels-in-progress. The cause: the 2008 Nefarious Muse short fiction contest. And although this heavy little taste of that novel did not win, I am proud to say the good folks over at Cause & Effect recognized something redeeming and accepted it for their issue 12.

Author’s note:

This story fits snugly in a war-themed novel that I am working on, inspired by the Tom Waits song “Hoist that Rag.” During a 2007 writing intensive with the brilliant Craig Clevenger (The Contortionist’s Handbook, Dermaphoria, and upcoming-not-soon-enough, Saint Heretic) I reached back into this novel for a chuck I could modify as a stand-alone story. “A Trench…” was that chunk.

The best part, Clevenger had some positive things to say (“I love the exchange, a “priest” out of his depth in a very real sense, and a war victim who’s much more in control than Million would have expected… his trivial wounds in the heat of battle, his audacity to seek help in the midst of so many other more seriously wounded soldiers… I like it”), sandwiched by some genuinely helpful direction. This Cause & Effect version represents that direction.

Visit Cause & Effect, buy a copy of issue 12. Only $7.50. Consider it an investment; you can use your copy as toilet paper when the world’s supply inevitably runs out.

Last, but perhaps most important, I will take a Dremel tool to your cochlea if you do not also read Nik Korpon’s “Glass Bubbles.”

I have known Lynn Alexander and Aleathia Drehmer for a few months, just long enough to realize how much they truly care about art in all its forms. Both women have been past editors over at Outsider Writers Collective (where I met them), but have moved over to head the online lit zine, Full of Crow.

My story, “Globe Valve,” is now live as part of their Summer 2009 flash fiction supplement, MiCrow (get it? Micro…). When Lynn approached me about submitting a story, I jumped at the chance. I have rarely worked with a more passionate editor.

Author’s Note:

I wrote this story specifically for Full of Crow, but intend to leverage it for an upcoming project (more on that in the coming months). On the surface, “Globe Valve,” seems a straightforward vignette involving two people who witness a jumper suicide from the balcony of a downtown condo. But a single surreal moment, when one of the characters touches the falling body, opens the story up to much more.

Head over to Full of Crow to read it now. Leave some comments here, let me know what you think.

Colored Chalk issue 7, MacGuffins for Hire, is now live. This thing keeps getting better. First time editor Colin McKay Miller, with the design help of Jason Heim, has delivered a stellar collection of fiction and poetry. Each day my pride as a parent swells.

This issue features poetry by Michael S. Harper, Meg Kearney, and Howie Good, with fiction by Mary Jo Campbell, Michael Paul Gonzalez, Nicholas Merlin Karpuk, Nik Korpon, M. Kilbain Lazer, Alex J. Martin, K. Curran Mayer, Devin Strauch, and Axel Taiari.

Also, Melanie Gillman contributed an unofficial web comic supplement

As always, we promote legal theft as a downloadable and distributable .pdf file. Go to the Issue 7 page for details, printing instructions, and visual over-stimulation.